Herbal Therapy in Primary Health Care in Maracanaú, Ceará, Brazil

2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1336-1341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria IG Silva ◽  
Francisca CF Sousa ◽  
Ana PS Gondim

BACKGROUND The public health system in Brazil is insufficient to provide basic pharmaceutical and medical care to the population. Currently, some herbal therapy programs are being developed in primary healthcare services to supply the communities lacking basic medicines. OBJECTIVE To investigate the use of herbal medicines in primary health care in Maracanaú, a northeast Brazilian city. METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in family health care units in Maracanaú during August and September of 2002. Two hundred twenty-six patients were interviewed via structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistical analysis was accomplished using sample size and proportions. χ 2 And Student's t-tests were used to compare percentages and means, respectively. RESULTS Among the 226 patients interviewed, 144 (63.7%) reported previous use of herbal medicines. Among those, 131 (90.9%) observed therapeutic benefits from herbal medicines. We identified 10 types of herbal medicines in the prescriptions, including syrups, dyes, capsules, and ointments, for the treatment of respiratory problems (63.8%), skin conditions (15.3%), diabetes mellitus (11.4%), and other illnesses. Further, we observed that some herbal medicines were not being produced during the study period and that several patients were not aware of the fact that they were receiving herbal medicine. CONCLUSIONS Data support the use of herbal therapy in primary health care in Maracanaú. However, there is a need to conduct further study on the efficacy and safety of these herbal medicines, as well as on their quality control.

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 648-654
Author(s):  
Patricia S Chueiri ◽  
Marcelo Rodrigues Gonçalves ◽  
Lisiane Hauser ◽  
Lucas Wollmann ◽  
Sotero Serrate Mengue ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Primary health care (PHC) delivery in Brazil has improved in the last decades. However, it remains unknown whether the Family Health Strategy teams are meeting the health needs of the population. Objectives To describe the reasons for encounter (RFEs) in PHC in Brazil and to examine variations in RFEs according to sex, age and geographic region. Methods This descriptive study is part of a national cross-sectional study conducted in 2016. The sample was stratified by the number of PHC physicians per geographic region. Physicians who had been working for at least 1 year in the same PHC unit were included. For every participating physician, 12 patients aged ≥18 years who had attended at least two encounters were included. Patients were asked about their RFEs, which were classified according to the International Classification of Primary Care. Results In 6160 encounters, a total of 8046 RFEs were coded. Seven reasons accounted for 50% of all RFEs. There was a high frequency of codes related to test results, medication renewal and preventive medicine. RFEs did not vary significantly by sex or geographic region, but they did by age group (P < 0.001). The rates of prescriptions, requests for investigations and referrals to specialized care were 71.1%, 42.8%, and 21.3%, respectively. Conclusion This novel study opened the ‘black box’ of RFEs in PHC in Brazil. These findings can contribute to redefining the scope of PHC services and reorienting work practices in order to improve the quality of PHC in Brazil.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 04
Author(s):  
Giovani Sturmer ◽  
Maria Eugênia Bresolin Pinto ◽  
Monica Maria Celestina de Oliveira ◽  
Alessandra Dahmer ◽  
Airton Tetelbom Stein ◽  
...  

No Brasil, a Atenção Primária em Saúde (APS) é porta de entrada no serviço de saúde do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). A rede é constituída por unidades de saúde onde profissionais preparados para atuar na prevenção e manutenção da saúde da comunidade buscam atender às necessidades locais de forma equitativa, eficaz e precisa. O objetivo deste estudo é descrever o perfil dos profissionais da APS, vinculados a Especialização em Saúde da Família – UNA-SUS UFCSPA. Foi realizado um estudo transversal com profissionais da saúde não participantes do Programa Mais Médicos, que atuam na APS no Rio Grande do Sul vinculados ao curso, entre 2011 e 2013, para observar as características dos profissionais e o seu vínculo com o trabalho. Entre os 277 avaliados, a maioria são mulheres, enfermeiras, com média de 35 anos, formadas a menos de 10 anos, 88% trabalham em ESF, e 73,1% participam de equipes de saúde bucal. A pós-graduação concluída direcionada para APS foi observada em 30% dos profissionais; e 56,3% estavam no primeiro trabalho em APS, com media de 4,5 anos de atuação; 40,4% tinham outra atividade remunerada (77% médicos). Observou-se que 59% estavam satisfeitos com o tipo de vínculo, e entre a maioria foi observada a satisfação com as condições gerais de trabalho (58,1%), com a estrutura física e com os equipamentos das unidades (58,3%). Observaram-se profissionais com menor idade e pouca especialidade na área, entretanto, todos eles buscando aprimoramento através da Especialização para melhorar sua atuação na APS.Palavras-chave: Atenção Primária à Saúde. Saúde da Família. Profissionais da Saúde.ABSTRACTIn Brazil Primary Health Care (PHC) is the gateway to health service of the Unified Health System. The network consists of health unit where professionals seek to meet local needs fairly and effectively, and it must rely on trained professionals to work in community health prevention and maintenance. The aim of this study is to describe the profile of PHC professionals who are linked to UNA-SUS–UFCSPA’s Specialization Program in Family Health. A cross-sectional study with health professionals who work in PHC in Rio Grande do Sul and were linked to the program between 2011 and 2013 was conducted to observe the characteristics of professionals and their relationship with work. Among the participants (277), the majority are women, nurses with an average of 35 years, professionals for less than 10 years, 88% work in FHS, and 73.1% with oral health team. The completed a graduate degree focused on PHC was observed in 30% of the professionals; 56.3% were working their first job in PHC, with a median of 4.5 years of operation; and 40.4% engaged in another paid activity (77% physicians). It was observed that 59% were satisfied with their type of employment, and most participants showed to be satisfied with their general working conditions (58.1%) and the physical structure and equipment of the health unit (58.3%). Younger professionals and with little expertise in the area were observed, however all of them were seeking development through Specialization to improve their performance in PHC.Keywords: Primary Health Care. Family Health. Health Personnel.


Author(s):  
André Luiz Brandão Costa ◽  
Magno Conceição das Merces ◽  
Amália Ivine Costa Santana ◽  
Douglas de Souza e Silva ◽  
Rodrigo Fernandes Weyll Pimentel ◽  
...  

Background: Labor activities are demanding for workers and can induce occupational stress. Primary health care (PHC) workers have faced problems that can lead to the development of stress and abdominal obesity. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of abdominal adiposity among primary health care physicians in the metropolitan mesoregion of Salvador, Bahia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted with physicians from the family health units (FHUs) of the metropolitan mesoregion of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The number of FHUs corresponded to 41 teams (52 physicians). Anamnesis was performed and a questionnaire was applied. The clinical examination consisted of measuring waist circumference (WC), blood pressure levels (BP), and body mass index (BMI), as well as examining for acanthosis nigricans. Blood samples were collected for biochemical dosages. The data obtained were analyzed by SPSS version 22.0. Results: The sample included 41 physicians (response rate: 78.8%), of which 18 were women (44.0%). The percentage of overweight participants represented by BMI was 31.7%. The hypertriglyceridemia prevalence was 29.2%. HDL-c was low in 48.7% of the participants. The waist circumference measurement revealed a prevalence of abdominal adiposity of 38.8% (women) and 34.8% (men). Conclusions: Medical professionals in PHC are more susceptible to having higher abdominal adiposity, especially female physicians.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
A C F Martins ◽  
G A Pereira ◽  
W P P Gomes ◽  
C N Monteiro ◽  
C A S Siqueri ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The four essential attributes of primary health care (PHC): access, longitudinality, comprehensiveness and coordination, guide the professional practices of service management and also the professionals of the family health strategy teams. Family medicine residence (FMR) is the speciality that trains medical practitioners capable of acting properly in PHC. It develops a person-centred approach, oriented towards the individual, his family and community, which dialogues with the PHC precepts of comprehensive patient care from a social point of view. Thus, the objective of this study was to verify whether there are differences in the PHC attributes perceived by patients treated by teams with FMR doctors and by the others. Methods This was an observed cross-sectional study conducted during 2019, which used the Adult Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCATool) to evaluate preliminarily 28 PHC teams working at the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The teams were compared based on 337 patient answers using domains medians and Mann-Whitney tests. The study was approved by the ethics committee. Results Eight teams (28.6%) had doctors trained in FMR. The attributes of longitudinality and access were very similar between the two groups. The teams with FMR doctors showed better evaluations in the components: information systems, median 7.78, versus 6.67 (p = 0.391); services available, median 6.52, versus 6.06 (p = 0.086); and services received, median 4.85, versus 3.85 (p = 0.180) of the coordination and comprehensiveness attributes. Conclusions We didn't find statistically significant results indicating better PHC attributes of teams with FMR doctors, based on user perception. A continuous study is recommended to follow the evolution of this speciality in the PHC context. Key messages FMR is a fundamental key to PHC and must be evaluated continuously. It is necessary to strengthen their insertion in the Brazilian health system and discuss the ways to do so.


2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (spe) ◽  
pp. 122-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Albino da Silva ◽  
Denismar Alves Nogueira ◽  
Camila Maria da Silva Paraizo ◽  
Lislaine Aparecida Fracolli

Objective To assess primary health care attributes of access to a first contact, comprehensiveness, coordination, continuity, family guidance and community orientation. Method An evaluative, quantitative and cross-sectional study with 35 professional teams in the Family Health Program of the Alfenas region, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Data collection was done with the Primary Care Assessment Tool - Brazil, professional version. Results Results revealed a low percentage of medical experts among the participants who evaluated the attributes with high scores, with the exception of access to a first contact. Data analysis revealed needs for improvement: hours of service; forms of communication between clients and healthcare services and between clients and professionals; the mechanism of counter-referral. Conclusion It was concluded that there is a mismatch between the provision of services and the needs of the population, which compromises the quality of primary health care.





2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Bertoglio Comassetto Antunes de Oliveira ◽  
Maria de La Ó Ramallo Veríssimo

OBJECTIVE To compare the health assistance models of Basic Traditional Units (UBS) with the Family Health Strategy (ESF) units for presence and extent of attributes of Primary Health Care (APS), specifically in the care of children. METHOD A cross-sectional study of a quantitative approach with families of children attended by the Public Health Service of Colombo, Paraná. The Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCA-Tool) was applied to parents of 482 children, 235 ESF units and 247 UBS units covering all primary care units of the municipality, between June and July 2012. The results were analyzed according to the PCA-Tool manual. RESULTS ESF units reached a borderline overall score for primary health care standards. However, they fared better in their attributes of Affiliation, Integration of care coordination, Comprehensiveness, Family Centeredness and Accessibility of use, while the attributes of Community Guidance/Orientation, Coordination of Information Systems, Longitudinality and Access attributes were rated as insufficient for APS. UBS units had low scores on all attributes. CONCLUSION The ESF units are closer to the principles of APS (Primary Health Care), but there is need to review actions of child care aimed at the attributes of APS in both care models, corroborating similar studies from other regions of Brazil.


Author(s):  
Catiele Raquel Schmidt ◽  
Fabiano Pereira dos Santos ◽  
Marli Maria Loro ◽  
Marina Mazzuco de Souza ◽  
Adriane Cristina Bernat Kolankiewicz

Objective: To evaluate attitudes and perceptions about the culture of patient safety by professionals working in primary health care. Method: A cross-sectional study, developed with professionals from the multiprofessional team, who work in basic and family health units of a municipality in the northwest of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. For data collection from June to December 2016, the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire - Outpatient version. Responses follow the Likert scale, and scores were considered positive when ≥7.5. Results: 172 professionals from the multiprofessional team participated in the study. The domains that showed positive results were patient safety and unit management. The lowest scores occurred in the error and working conditions domains. Conclusion: We identified weaknesses in the results, and the need for investments in structure, training and awareness of professionals, managers and users in order to consolidate safe care.Objective: To evaluate attitudes and perceptions about the culture of patient safety by professionals working in primary health care. Method: A cross-sectional study, developed with professionals from the multiprofessional team, who work in basic and family health units of a municipality in the northwest of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. For data collection from June to December 2016, the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire - Outpatient version. Responses follow the Likert scale, and scores were considered positive when ≥7.5. Results: 172 professionals from the multiprofessional team participated in the study. The domains that showed positive results were patient safety and unit management. The lowest scores occurred in the error and working conditions domains. Conclusion: We identified weaknesses in the results, and the need for investments in structure, training and awareness of professionals, managers and users in order to consolidate safe care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan-José Zamora-Sánchez ◽  
Edurne Zabaleta-del-Olmo ◽  
Vicente Gea-Caballero ◽  
Iván Julián-Rochina ◽  
Gemma Pérez-Tortajada ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Frail-VIG frailty index has been developed recently. It is an instrument with a multidimensional approach and a pragmatic purpose that allows rapid and efficient assessment of the degree of frailty in the context of clinical practice. Our aim was to investigate the convergent and discriminative validity of the Frail-VIG frailty index with regard to EQ-5D-3L value. Methods We carried out a cross-sectional study in two Primary Health Care (PHC) centres of the Catalan Institute of Health (Institut Català de la Salut), Barcelona (Spain) from February 2017 to January 2019. Participants in the study were all people included under a home care programme during the study period. No exclusion criteria were applied. We used the EQ-5D-3L to measure Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and the Frail-VIG index to measure frailty. Trained PHC nurses administered both instruments during face-to-face assessments in a participant’s home during usual care. The relationships between both instruments were examined using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analyses. Results Four hundred and twelve participants were included in this study. Frail-VIG score and EQ-5D-3L value were negatively correlated (r = − 0.510; P < 0.001). Non-frail people reported a substantially better HRQoL than people with moderate and severe frailty. EQ-5D-3L value declined significantly as the Frail-VIG index score increased. Conclusions Frail-VIG index demonstrated a convergent validity with the EQ-5D-3L value. Its discriminative validity was optimal, as their scores showed an excellent capacity to differentiate between people with better and worse HRQoL. These findings provide additional pieces of evidence for construct validity of the Frail-VIG index.


2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 343-356
Author(s):  
Ana Maseda ◽  
José Carlos Millán-Calenti ◽  
Julia Carpente ◽  
José Luis Rodríguez-Villamil ◽  
Carmen de Labra

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